


It'll Be Alright

by missanonyma



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Varchie!Centric, tw: discussion of character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:13:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29090346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missanonyma/pseuds/missanonyma
Summary: what some of 5x02 may have looked like without the out of character and terribly done cheating storyline.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge
Comments: 7
Kudos: 31





	It'll Be Alright

**Author's Note:**

> fair warning, not proofread so i have no idea how many grammar errors are below.

She’s still in shock, and very frightened, when she decides to call Archie. 

Hermosa had driven her home after her deadly encounter with the Malloy’s, the bandits that almost killed her because of something her father did had Hermosa not gotten there and shot them first.

She’s mad, fuming even, that now her father’s extra curricular activities are not only ruining her life, but potentially ending her life. She’ll deal with him, tomorrow. Now she just wants to thank god she’s still alive.

He’s at the gym when she calls, apparently doing some late night cleaning or something but as soon as she drops the words ‘gun’ and ‘aimed at me’, he’s quickly hanging up and telling her he’ll be over ASAP.

Veronica considers not telling him for a split second, remembering how he got during the times of the Black Hood and not wanting a return of night watch Archie but decides otherwise. This affects the two of them potentially and they’re older now, this is more permanent. They have plans for the future.

Even though the Naval Academy didn’t work out, Archie’s recovered quickly and called for her and Mary to both meet him at Pop’s the very next day to tell them he’s made the decision to apply to a community college in New York when he finishes summer school and gets his diploma.

He’s going to be working while going to school, deciding now that the Naval Academy is out of the equation, he doesn’t want to be apart from her, while she herself attends Barnard. And after that, who knows what the future holds for them.

Veronica quickly discovers he wasn’t kidding when he said he’d be at the Pembrooke as soon as possible, as he gets there freakishly fast, probably having broken multiple speed limits. She can hear his sneakers squeaking on the hardwood floor and thanking her mom for letting him in.

“Oh my god, Ronnie,” he nearly knocks her back onto her bed as he scoops her up in his arms and holds her oh so tightly, his hand on the back of her head. The way he’s holding onto her is almost overwhelming,  _ almost _ , but she’s holding onto him just the same, grateful whatever the Malloy’s planned to happen tonight didn’t. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” she says out loud, reassuring him  _ and _ herself at the same time.

“I know I say this every time something insane happens and one of us almost dies but seriously, I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you, Ronnie.”

“Do you want me to explain-” Veronica starts, but is cut off by him.

“Yes but just give me a minute.”

He holds her for a long time, making her think back to Halloween when she had a run in with some psycho on the run, that she was thankfully able to fend off. She was high off adrenaline and he was clingier as they slept that night. But it also reminds her of the day he got the phone call about Fred, and how he made it very clear through his actions and words in the months that followed, no matter how much he did love and care about his mom and his friends, she was the last thing he had left.

He doesn’t let go of her when they move, her back against the headboard of the bed and him beside her. 

“Some men showed up behind Pop’s while I was taking out the trash on my shift, they had guns. Apparently,” she breathes. “My dad killed their dad, so they were gonna kill me.”

“Not to say I hadn’t seen it coming,” Veronica quickly adds, making him look at her in a weird way. “I mean my dad’s been doing shady things like this for like ever, I haven’t  _ not _ thought about what would happen if someone took my life as collateral.”

Apparently he doesn’t like hearing that because he holds her even tighter while he waits for her to go on.

“Anyways, thank god Hermosa showed up, and with a gun she carries around for some reason, because I’m still here and  _ very _ angry.”

He studies her face closely, looking unsure how to react in this moment while she’s still upset and rightfully so.

“So what’re you-”

“I’m kicking him into the back seat,” she rubs her temples as she herself processes what she’s saying. “He’s done, Archie, he’s  _ done _ .”

He doesn’t speak, which she’s grateful for, as she tugs him gently to lay his head in the crook of her neck. These are the kind of moments she just needs him with her.

It’s also in these moments she revisits a fantasy she’s been dreaming about for years, even admittedly so when certain aspects were out of the picture like money, connections, or even Archie.

She dreams about a reality where she can go live her life, untainted by things her family has done that seem to just haunt her wherever she goes, with Archie by her side, back in the city. She’s very close to making this dream her reality,  _ finally _ , and she’s not letting anyone or anything stand in her way.

Neither of them ask if he’s going to stay the night, because they both already know he is. He’s not going anywhere now. 

“We’re gonna leave all of this behind soon,” he whispers, like he knows what she’s thinking about in the silence. All she can do is kiss his hair and hang onto his words like promises.

She believes him, they’re gonna leave this disturbed world, and go somewhere that doesn’t want to actively try to hurt what they love every chance it gets. A reality of the world they’ve been living, in just the two of them, ever since they made their love official on that cold winter night, in the same bed they’re lying in now.

  
  
  


He must stare at the letter for hours, because by the time he looks up it’s dark outside. ‘To the Honorable Judge Britton’, but nothing else.

Archie doesn’t know what to do, the person responsible for his father’s death is now being tried as an adult and he can get him a lesser sentence if he just writes this stupid letter. But it’s about more than that. Archie can’t even begin to count the number of nights he has woken up in a cold sweat since he lost his dad. Standing at the place he died, meeting the woman he stopped to help, holding George Augustine against the wall and slamming his fist next to his head. 

He still has nightmares about seeing his dad’s peaceful forever resting face, knowing he could have done something,  _ anything _ , to maybe prevent this.

He never even got to say goodbye.

It reminds him of earlier this week, how he almost lost the most important person in his life, and he hadn’t even got to give a proper goodbye either.

Shoving the pad of paper aside, he grabs his phone and quickly dials the only person he wants to see right now. 

She doesn’t take long to answer, two rings before she picks up, “Archie?”

“Ronnie, I need to see you,” he sighs, already getting his shoes back on the best he can with one hand because he has a good feeling she’s going to agree to see him.

“A Wednesday night booty call, really?” she teases, he can hear her witty breath on the other end of the line. “The speakeasy’s closed but I’m there doing paperwork if you wanna come by.”

He takes her up on her offer immediately, telling her he’ll leave now. He barely stops long enough to tell his mom he’s going out, while she sits with Brooke on the couch watching some movie he doesn’t stick around long enough to identify.

The roads are dark and slick, no murderers or obscene cult leaders lingering in alleyways waiting to somehow involve him in something he wants no part of. Riverdale looks almost normal, and he hopes it stays that way for his last week here.

There’s a waiter at Pop’s who keeps an eye on the door to Le Bonne Nuit on days where there’s nothing special going and no bouncer, telling customers if the speakeasy isn’t open today or they’re at capacity or some other excuse as to why they cannot go down there, as Veronica has no interest in serving people who just want to cause trouble.

Archie’s the only person who’s allowed whenever, perks of being the boss’ trophy husband as Reggie likes to put it.

“You look busy,” Archie finds her hunched a piece of paper writing something down beside a stack of files that almost hide her from view.

“I am but never too much to see you,” she promises, tilting her head up to meet his lips when he reaches her, kissing her hello before seating himself beside her. “How are you?”

He glances down at his own fold hands, “I feel like I haven’t seen you in a while and I’m not the best, honestly.”

Archie looks back up at her, seeing she has her fist under her chin, glasses still astutely perched on her nose as she waits with her ears ready to listen.

He explains the situation with the Augustine’s how he could potentially save the boy some jail time, since he’s now confessed to the crime and saved his father from taking the blame for him. 

“I know it’s the right thing to do, probably. I just… Veronica, you were there, you know how,” he says, looking at her. “For months, I thought about all of it. How taking the car when I wasn’t supposed and driving drunk is something that I would’ve done. That he’s just a stupid kid who made a mistake,  _ I’ve _ made so many mistakes.”

Leaning back in his seat, “But the difference between me and this kid is that I would’ve stopped.”

She stares back at him just as intently as he’s looking at her, hanging on his every word and letting him say what he needs to say.

“He didn’t stop, he let my dad die alone on the side of the road, he kept driving. It’s all I can think about even now and I don’t know how I can write a letter forgiving a person that can just…” Archie closes his eyes tightly, doing his best not to let the emotions get the best of him right now. “I don’t know what to do, Veronica.”

He feels her take his hand in her two little ones, rubbing smooth circles as he calms down.

“I think, that you and your dad are very similar people,” she starts slowly, wanting to make sure Archie really hears her. “You’re both kind, strong, and loving, some qualities that are surprisingly hard to find these days. And I know the decision you make will be the right one for you, but…”

He looks up at her, “I don’t think your dad would want this boy’s life defined by a mistake he made when he was a kid, no matter how horrible the outcome was. He was all about forgiving and giving second chances.”

“He gave me more of those than I can count,” Archie chuckles softly, hiding his sad smile. She nods, slowly leaning forward and kissing his forehead.

“I know you’ll make the right decision.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading, i will forever be imagining all the scenes we could've gotten had a lot of this s4 mess never happened sigh


End file.
